Sep 1, 2018
As you might recall from our last series, Tiberius came from several impressive families. He was, of course, the adopted son of Augustus, and therefore a Caesar. He was also a Claudian via his father. The Claudians were one of the most prominent patrician houses at...
Aug 25, 2018
And so it was that in the year 767 Ab Urb Condita, 14 AD if you’re a Christian, or 14 CE if you’re secular Or, if you were living in Rome at the time, you would called it the year of the consulship of Sextus Pompeius and Sextus Appuleius Caesar Augustus...
Jun 15, 2018
Augustus is feeling pretty chipper so he and Livia join Tiberius on his trip to the east. It’ll be the princeps’ last trip. Meanwhile Augustus asked people to just leave him the fuck alone. In 12 CE Germanicus read a speech out in the Senate where he...
Jun 8, 2018
Before the news of Varus’ defeat had reached Rome, one of Augustus’ main concerns in 9 CE was how unpopular his legislation encouraging marriage and raising of children was. Click on the banner and use the coupon code LOC to get 25% off your first three...
Jun 2, 2018
News of Varus’ defeat reached Rome only five days after the victory celebrations from the Balkan war. Click on the banner and use the coupon code LOC to get 25% off your first three months! At least Augustus could now transfer troops back to the...
May 18, 2018
The downfall of Ovid and the rise of Arminius. Another person who got caught up in all this was the poet Ovid. He of the Ars Amatoria, in Engligh, the Arse of Love. Remember him from ten episodes back? The one who wrote beautiful poems about love and seduction and...
May 11, 2018
The downfall of Julia’s surviving children, Agrippa Postumus and Julia the Younger. Click on the banner and use the coupon code LOC to get 25% off your first three months! * The food shortages lasted for several months. * Including Augustus’s birthday, so he...
May 5, 2018
* While all this is going on with the Dalmatians, there are problems in other provinces as well. * We hear of campaigning going on in….. Africa. * And also this is the period when Herod’s son Archelaus is so unpopular in Judaea that he’s stripped of his throne and...
Apr 20, 2018
* Apparently this kind of pride was enough for Augustus to decide they had to go. * Bodacious must have seen it coming, because he built up his forces to prepare. * Which of course the Romans noticed, so they thought he was even more of a threat. * The Romans had a...
Apr 13, 2018
And overnight, Tibbo goes from being invisible to being the Number Two man in Rome again! * WHO DOES NUMBER TWO WORK FOR * Oh he knows. * Now all of Aug’s successors are either Livia’s sons or her grandsons. * This would lead to rumours that she had organised the...
Apr 7, 2018
* By the time news of Caius’ death had reached Rome it was some time in late March, 4 CE. * Aug mourned but also hurried to plan for the future. * Of course, he didn’t have many options left. * Julia and Agrippa had one son left – Agrippa Postumus. * Or Aggy P...
Mar 26, 2018
* Keep in mind that by the standards of the day, jokes about deformities were pretty mild. * Remember those speeches Cicero gave about Mark Antony? The Phillipics? * Here’s just one example: * Let us speak rather of his meaner descriptions of worthlessness. You, with...
Mar 16, 2018
Augustus stayed in Rome more now, no longer going out on long tours of the provinces, probably because he’s in his sixties, probably because he doesn’t have someone like Agrippa to leave in charge while he’s away. * On his birthday in 2 CE, he wrote an interesting...
Mar 10, 2018
* It’s the year 1 BCE * Caius Caesar, biological son of Agrippa and Julia, adopted son of Augustus, is 19 years old. * And what do you get for the 19 year old who has everything? * A military command. * In a distant land. * There was a power struggle going on in...
Feb 27, 2018
A special philosophy episode. Nothing at all to do with Augustus or Rome. No Ray. Just me and a special guest – Dr. Richard Carrier, who has a M.Phil. and a Ph.D. Ancient History from Columbia University. Talking about FREE WILL. Now most of you know that...
Feb 22, 2018
* Claudius was encouraged to take up writing history by the man who himself wrote one of the greatest histories during Aug’s reign – Titus Livius, aka Livy. * He was a local aristocrat from Northern Italy and never sought a career in public life. * His history...
Feb 17, 2018
Having listened to both the Napoleon podcast and Rays WW2 podcast for some time I couldn’t believe my lucky when these to blokes teamed up for this podcast. There chemistry and humour make history fun and informative. It’s also forced me to question how I...
Feb 15, 2018
* Caius and Lucius presided over games including one where 260 lions were killed in the Circus Maximus which was built by the first Etruscan king of Rome Lucius Tarquinius Priscus. * BTW if you go to Rome today, you can see The Obelisco Flaminio, now in the Piazza del...
Feb 10, 2018
* Caius and Lucius seem unaffected by Julia’s exile. * She probably hadn’t had much to do with their upbringing for quite a while. * She was too busy having drunken orgies. * Both of them were adults and were assuming more of a public role. * They presided over the...
Jan 21, 2018
A quick hello from our hotel room in Durham, North Carolina.
